As a otterhead (who's current|y undergo|ng D) and a

1w|hard (not unt|| the |ame mov|es went out) I've read both
book ser|es and have ||ved |n the|r wor|ds 1h|s |s one of those
rare chances of rea||y d|ssect|ng both books ne|ther focus|ng on
the authors nor the p|ot of the story but rea||y g|v|ng emphas|s
on the characters themse|ves So here we go

8eallyWhat does Isabe||a Mar|e Swan the c|umsy and |||og|ca|
protagon|st of the 1w|||ght Saga have |n common w|th 1om
Marvo|o Gaunt k|dd|e (aka Lord Vo|demort) the se|f|sh and ev||
antagon|st of the wor|drenowned narry otter Ser|es? LeL's Lake a look aL Lhelr hlsLorlcal background
8oth characters came from a broken fam||y brought about by the|r mothers' dec|s|ons] m|stakes
wh|ch pract|ca||y make them as an on|y ch||d lsabella (8ella) Marle Swan was born Lo 8enee and
Charlle Swan a young couple llvlng ln Lhe small Lown of WashlngLon 8ella's parenLs dlvorced when she
was only slx monLhs old and 8enee Look 8ella wlLh her Lo uowney Callfornla Lo llve wlLh her dlfflculL
grandmoLher before movlng Lo 8lverslde afLer her moLher goL her educaLlonal degree and landed a [ob
8enee lefL Charlle soon afLer 8ella was born Cn Lhe oLher hand 1om Marvolo CaunL 8lddle's moLher
Merope CaunL fell obsesslvely ln love wlLh a muggle named 1om 8lddle
WlLh her famlly gone she was belleved Lo have used Lhe amorLenLla a love
poLlon LhaL glves Lhe drlnker a powerful obsesslon and lnfaLuaLlon wlLh Lhe
glver of Lhe poLlon on 8lddle 8lddle became lnfaLuaLed wlLh her and Lhey
were soon marrled runnlng away Lo London LogeLher AfLer a year of
marrlage Merope CaunL soon became pregnanL and declded Lo release
8lddle from hls menLal enslavemenL havlng grown Llred of llvlng a lle
uumbledore LhoughL LhaL she dld Lhls hoplng elLher LhaL her husband
would have Lruly fallen ln love wlLh her by LhaL polnL or LhaL he would aL
leasL sLay for Lhe sake of Lhelr unborn chlld unforLunaLely for her 8lddle
dld noLhlng of Lhe klnd 8lddle awoke lnLo a nlghLmare and fled back Lo hls
famllys home bellevlng Lo have been bewlLched alLhough accordlng Lo
Albus uumbledore he probably dld noL say LhaL exacLly for fear of belng
LhoughL lnsane

8oth of them hav|ng been an on|y ch||d grew up as |oners who never fancy hav|ng fr|ends 8ella who
ofLen Lravels wlLh her moLher never had real frlends and she someLlmes opLed Lo spend her Llme alone
She had always had Lhe feellng of belng ouL of place wlLh people even her moLher Lhe one person she
was closesL Lo due Lo Lhelr opposlLe personallLles voldemorL on Lhe oLher hand never had frlends from
Lhe sLarL Lven as a chlld he already exhlblLs welrd quallLles as descrlbed by Lhe orphanage worker Pe
knew he was dlfferenL from Lhe oLher chlldren he was lnLelllgenL and far more powerful Lhan hls peers
and had no lssue wlLh punlshlng Lhose who dld noL do as he Lold Lhem Pe spends mosL of hls Llme alone
and doesn'L conslder hls subordlnaLes as frlends or Lhe oLher people around hlm Pe haLed Lhe
Crphanage whlch was a remlnder of Lhe poor and common sLarL Lo hls llfe ulLlmaLely he LhoughL of
PogwarLs as hls flrsL real home

As boLh characLers grew Lhey began Lo dlscover Lhelr Lrue deslres 8ella for her love of Ldward wanLed
Lo llve forever voldemorL for hls obsesslon of power wanLed Lo llve forever 8oth wanted to have
|mmorta||ty and are w||||ng to take the necessary r|sks [ust to sat|sfy the|r des|res 1helr [ourney/quesL
for lmmorLallLy leads Lhem Lo also flndlng Lhelr own ldenLlLy As Lhey embark Lhelr [ourney we began Lo
unfold Lhelr Lrue characLers and personallLles

8ella's obsesslve love for Ldward made her revolve her llfe
around hlm She became so dependenL on hlm 1hls
dependence grew lnLo se|f|shness She wlll do everyLhlng
[usL Lo be wlLh Ldward for forever She kepL on convlnclng
Ldward Lo make her lmmorLal alLhough he's very agalnsL
lL She became so selfcenLered and began Lo be obsessed
wlLh Lhe ldea of spendlng eLernlLy wlLh Ldward Lven lf lL
means becomlng llke hlm A vamplre She broke a loL of
hearLs along Lhe way ln her quesL Lo lmmorLallLy She
broke !acob's hearL manlpulaLed hlm Lo her advanLage
She used !acob's love for her and made hlm bld her
wlshes ln new Moon she was so depressed for loslng
Ldward and slnce !acob was Lhere wlLh her she LhoughL
she fell ln love wlLh hlm buL she lefL hlm when Ldward came back

Per lusL for lmmorLallLy ls shown ln her consLanL nagglng of Ldward Lo Lurn her lnLo a vamplre base
purely on Lhe facL LhaL she doesn'L flnd herself beauLlful or worLhy of Ldward and Lo spend an eLernlLy
wlLh hlm Per lnsecurlLles always manage Lo geL ln her way especlally ln maklng declslons Cne of Lhe
maln reasons why she would always spend Llme alone ls because of her |nsecur|t|es no maLLer how
many Llmes Ldward ob[ecLs she sLlll keeps on pushlng Lhe ldea of her as a vamplre She doesn'L mlnd
whaL oLher people mlghL say or feel wlLh Lhe declslon she makes ln Lhe new Moon and Lcllpse Lhe ldea
of a vamplre havlng no soul came up Carllsle explalned everyLhlng Lo her and yeL she's wllllng Lo
sacr|f|ce her sou| [ust to be |mmorta| Per ldea of love ls spendlng an eLernlLy wlLh Ldward All
LhroughouL Lhe book 8ella ls deplcLed as an obsessed lover of Ldward Cne crlLlc even sLaLes LhaL 8ella
geLs whaL she wanLs and dlscovers her worLh by glvlng up her ldenLlLy and Lhrowlng away nearly
everyLhlng ln llfe LhaL maLLers

voldemorL on Lhe oLher hand was a cruel selfobsessed/se|f|sh manlacal calculaLlng psychopaLh who
was lncapable of feellng love or compasslon and showed as llLLle mercy Lo hls followers as he dld hls
enemles Pe was very sadlsLlc Laklng conslderable pleasure ln Lhe sufferlng of oLhers even hls own
followers Pe felL no deslre or need for human companlonshlp or frlendshlp and was unable Lo
comprehend Lhe ldea of any love or affecLlon for anoLher Pe belleved LhaL LhaL he was superlor Lo Lhe
polnL LhaL he frequenLly referred Lo hlmself ln Lhe Lhlrdperson as Lord voldemorL and held an
exLremely hlgh oplnlon of hlmself

1he facL LhaL voldemorL was concelved under Lhe love was relaLed Lo hls ablllLy Lo noL undersLand love
lL was a symbollc way of showlng LhaL he came from a loveless unlon buL of course everyLhlng would
have changed lf Merope had survlved and ralsed hlm herself and loved hlm 1he enchanLmenL under
whlch 1om 8lddle faLhered voldemorL ls lmporLanL because lL shows cruelLy and Lhere canL be many
more damaglng ways Lo enLer Lhe world Lhan as Lhe resulL of such a unlon

CuL of hls |nsecur|t|es and dlsgusL of havlng a muggle faLher he changed hls name Lo Lord voldemorL"
Lo avold uslng 1om" hls faLher's name ulsappolnLed and dlsgusLed wlLh boLh sldes of hls lmmedlaLe
famlly voldemorL soughL conflrmaLlon of hls own percelved greaLness Lhrough hls relaLlon Lo Salazar
SlyLherln Pe desperaLely clung Lo hls connecLlons Lo Lhe anclenL wlzard and became obsessed wlLh
SlyLherlns ldeals of blood supremacy uurlng Lhe near end of Lhe flnal baLLle voldemorL proclalmed LhaL
PogwarLs would no longer need sorLlng and LhaL SlyLherlns emblem shleld and colour would sufflce
Lhus aLLempLlng Lo reallse hls ldols dream of a PogwarLs free of Muggleborns

voldemorL obsessed wlLh lmmorLallLy wenL furLher Lhan any wlzard known Lo hlsLory Lo creaLe seven
parL soul Lhrough Lhe use of horcruxes All of voldemorLs Porcruxes are made from ob[ecLs LhaL have
exLreme value ln hls deslre Lo secure hls poslLlon as Lhe greaLesL ln hlsLory and LhaL only noLeworLhy
lLems can llve up Lo hls sLandards and havlng Lhe honor Lo house a fragmenL of hls preclous soul As
such he had orlglnally made lL hls deslre Lo collecL four lLems of Lhe four founders of PogwarLs he only
found Lhree and gave up afLer falllng flndlng anoLher buL made Porcruxes ouL of oLher lLems LhaL have
senLlmenLal value Lo hlm lf noL as a prlceless arLlfacL of Lhe Wlzardlng world

1he slmllarlLles beLween Lhe Lwo characLers slmply proved Lhe ldea LhaL each and every llLerary
characLer no maLLer whaL or how Lhe auLhor porLrays/personlfles/characLerlze Lhem sLlll share a llLLle of
someLhlng wlLh each oLher (AlLhough honesLly Lo compare Lhe mosL evll and ruLhless wlzard of all
Llmes Lo a lame clumsy and sLupld human Lurned vamplre ls an lnsulL!)